Liberty will meet Eastern Michigan on Saturday, Dec. 18 in the 2021 Lending Tree Bowl in Mobile, Alabama. It will be the second ever meeting between the two football teams with the last one coming more than 32 years ago. That previous meeting led to one of the biggest wins in Liberty football history.
It was the fall of 1989. Liberty was in its 2nd year as a member of Division I, playing football at what was formerly known the I-AA level after moving up from Division II. Sam Rutigliano was in his first year as head coach. He brought in a strong coaching staff with him, including offensive coordinator Bob Leahy who had previous stints with the Minnesota Vikings and Buffalo Bills.
Expectations for the program were high as the former NFL head coach for the Cleveland Browns took over in Lynchburg. Liberty founder, Dr. Jerry Falwell, Sr., had big plans for the football team under the new head ball coach. Rutigliano had big dreams for the program. But no one expected for little old Liberty University to stroll in to Ypsilanti, Michigan on Oct. 14 and come away with the upset.
The Eastern Michigan Hurons, before their name was changed to the Eagles a couple years later, were a strong football program in the Mid-American Conference at the time. In 1987, EMU went 10-2 and won the MAC. The following year they finished 6-3-1, and they were unbeaten in mid-October 1989 when the Flames paid a visit. The Hurons were 5-0-1 at the time with their tie coming at Colorado State in late September.
Sam Rutigliano on August 22, 1989. (Photo by Les Schofer, Liberty Athletics)
Liberty was a good team that season too. The Flames entered the game at EMU with a record 4-0 that included wins over top 20 I-AA teams James Madison and Eastern Illinois. Senior quarterback Paul Johnson, who still remains in the top five for career passing yards at Liberty, was injured the previous week against Eastern Illinois and he would miss the game against Eastern Michigan. Redshirt-freshman Robby Justino would be making his first career start against the undefeated Hurons.
“Did we really think we could win going into it?,” Justino asked rhetorically when he talked with ASOR this week about that game. “We probably thought we could play with them. Did we really think we could win? We always thought we could win, but in the back of your mind you thought, ‘This is going to be a real tough ball game.'”
Justino explained the team meeting on Friday night at the hotel before the game was a key turning point that week towards helping launch the team to the upset win.
“The night before, we had a team meeting,” he said. “Coach Rutigliano had a guy come and speak to us. It really hit us hard that night. The team meeting, it was pretty special to me. That was almost more special than the win the night after. I think what happened was that kinda got us more focused to say let’s just play our best and see what happens.”
The game would go back and forth in the first half, with Liberty striking first on a one yard touchdown run by Charles McCray midway through the first half, to take a 6-0 lead. Eastern Michigan would answer with a touchdown to take the lead at 7-6, before Liberty answered with a couple of field goals to lead 12-7 in the second quarter.
After another Eastern Michigan touchdown and two-point conversion, the two teams exchanged field goals prior to halftime as EMU led 21-19 at the intermission. Liberty went into the locker room at halftime with a belief that they could pull off the upset.
“That always happens in big upsets,” said Justino. “You let them hang around a little bit, that lesser school, they’re going to start thinking they can do it, and that’s really what happened as the game went on.”
After halftime, it was a defensive struggle in the third quarter. Justino threw a couple interceptions in the second half, but the Flames’ defense stood strong and would not allow a touchdown after halftime. Both teams would remain scoreless in the third quarter and would not score again until Eastern Michigan tacked on a field goal with 14:16 left in the game to extend its lead to 24-19.
Justino would go on to have one of the more decorated careers at quarterback for Liberty. He was inducted into the Liberty Athletics Hall of Fame in 2013 following a career that he finished as Liberty’s all-time leader in career completions, attempts, passing touchdowns, total offensive yards, plays, and total touchdowns. But, that night in Michigan, he was just a young redshirt-freshman making his first career start.
As he took to the field to guide the team on what would be the game winning drive, it was some of the veterans on the offense that took control of the huddle and helped calm Justino down.
“The right tackle was Mark Smith, he was like, ‘Dude, we got your back,'” Justino recalled. “Tom McCutcheon, he was another offensive lineman that was upfront, some of those guys and even Eric Green were looking at me and were like, ‘Hey dude, you’ve done it before. We did it last week in that last half against Eastern Illinois.’ They were the calm in the storm. I wasn’t because that was my first start.”
QB Robby Justino, photo courtesy Liberty Athletics
Eric Green would be a great person to have in that huddle. He is one of the greatest football players to ever play at Liberty. The star tight end would go on to be drafted in the first round of the 1990 NFL Draft as he is still the only Liberty football player selected in the first round. He would go on to a long Pro Bowl career in the NFL. Justino knew he was someone to count on.
“You sit there and see a guy 6’7″ and weighing 260 that can basically just throw people to the side and hit linebackers and get wide open,” said Justino about Green. “Linebackers can’t even keep up with him. I knew early I was looking for him. I was a redshirt-freshman, and I would look at that guy going, ‘I’m throwing to that dude.’ I knew that he was pretty special, even then. All you had to do was see him running around the field and you were like, gee-whiz, he would be fun to throw to.”
Justino would throw to Green on the final drive against Eastern Michigan as he leaned on his mammoth target. Green would haul in three catches on that 10 play drive, all of them were crucial. Just before Green caught a pass on the final drive, Justino connected with Craig White for a 32 yard gain on 2nd and 17 that moved the Flames into Eastern Michigan territory.
Green’s first reception that drive came on 3rd and 16 at the EMU 31 yard line when Justino found the star tight end on the left side for a 17 yard gain to pick up the first down. Two plays later, the combo connected again for six yards, setting the Flames up to win the game.
“We were on the side line, we had called a timeout,” said Justino. “I’m sitting there listening to all these football geniuses back in those days. They’ve got Leahy up top, he’s saying stuff. Sam is saying this. Then, Eric walks over and says, ‘Ya’ll, just throw me the ball.’ I guess they went, ‘Ok, let’s go back to the old bread and butter, 79 Hot T-Option.'”
It was the perfect play call. Justino’s pass was deflected by a defender, but the athletic Green was able to adjust to the ball and haul in the game winning touchdown pass with 11 seconds left.
“He had the option of doing what he wanted to do,” Justino said of Green on the tight end option pass play. “I thought he was going flat and he kinda went 45, so that’s why the guy got the hand on it. That’s why I threw it to that point because I thought he was going flat. Then, he kinda went 45. The guy tipped it, he turned and caught it, and we just went down there and jumped all over him for a few minutes (in celebration).”
Justino finished the game completing 21 of 32 passes for 229 yards, 1 touchdown, and 3 interceptions. Green was his top target with 10 receptions for 123 yards and the touchdown.
Those two are still considered to be among the greatest players in program history, while Sam Rutigliano is still the winningest head coach in school history. They were part of the group to help lay the foundation for the Flames to make it to the FBS level where Liberty will have the rematch against Eastern Michigan in the program’s third ever bowl game. Justino will be on hand in Mobile, Alabama to watch the Flames look to repeat history.
*all photos courtesy Liberty Athletics
